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Tom Shadyac Considers The Intouchables

In talks to direct

With The Weinstein Company looking to keep momentum up on its remake of hit French comedy The Intouchables, the executives are naturally hunting for a director. Now they think they’ve found the right man, and surprisingly that happens to be Tom Shadyac.

There was a time when Shadyac would have been their first choice, as he spent years as one of the top Hollywood comedy directors, cranking out hits like Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, The Nutty Professor and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

But then he suffered two serious setbacks: Bruce sequel Evan Almighty was a huge, expensive flop and he was also involved in a serious bike accident that left him with ongoing health problems. He decided to completely re-invent himself, giving away much of the money he earned on the blockbusters, swapping his house for a trailer and consulting intellectual and spiritual people on how to help the world.

Shadyac chronicled all that in his documentary I Am, but for his return to fiction filmmaking, it appears he’s looking to get back into big comedy territory.

Colin Firth has been mulling the lead in the story, which Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig has adapted from Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s original. The story finds a wealthy man paralysed after a hang-gliding accident, who hires an unconventional young man to be his caretaker. The two seem very different, but soon find they’re kindred spirits.

Firth is just one of the actors in contention for the role, but it appears this one will be in production soon.